KEIGHLEY & DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY
WE PRESERVE AND SHARE
A huge thank you to Colin Neville, curator of the Not Just Hockney website, for his talk last night on local painter and sculptor George Demaine. It was fascinating and thought-provoking, and the perfect opportunity to appreciate the work of this artist. Over thirty society members and guests enjoyed the talk, in person at the Civic Centre and over Zoom.
Next month’s talk is Heather Millard on the stained-glass of Cliffe Castle, upstairs in the Civic Centre on Wednesday 11th June 2025.
Great article in this week’s Keighley News, promoting our next meeting which will include a talk by art historian Colin Neville on artist and sculptor George Demaine. The meeting is on Wednesday 14th May, at 7.15pm in Keighley Civic Centre. All welcome (free to History Society members and £3.50 for non-members, pay on the door).
The next History Society meeting is Wednesday 14th May 2025, starting at 7.15pm, upstairs in the Civic Centre on North Street, Keighley. The guest speaker will be Colin Neville, curator of the Not Just Hockney website about artists from the local area. His talk is entitled “The Courage of His Convictions” and focusses on artist and sculptor George Demaine (1892-1966), who grew up living on Malsis Crescent in Keighley. He studied at Keighley College of Art and then at the Royal College of Art in London. He was a committed Wesleyan Methodist and when he was called up to serve in the First World War he objected and claimed exemption on the grounds of his religious beliefs.
Colin says: “George Demaine, and thousands of conscientious objectors like him, demonstrated a different type of courage to the men and women who served during the Great War, that is the courage of their long-held religious or political convictions not to take the life of another and particularly in a war. It was a courage to stand by these principles in the face of often savage public reaction, military bullying, and harsh periods of imprisonment with hard labour.”
George was imprisoned for three years with hard labour for his refusal to serve in the armed forces or undertake any war related work. The talk illustrates George’s life and work: from art student locally, to his imprisonment, and how he forged a career for himself in the post-war years.
There will also be the opportunity to buy copies of Colin’s different publications on local artists. These usually cost between £5 and £10. Please bring cash if intending to buy.
The History Society’s monthly meetings are on the second Wednesday of each month. Our meetings are held upstairs in the main hall of Keighley Civic Centre on North Street. There is a lift at the front of the building and one inside for anyone who needs it. Doors will open at 7.15pm, and the meeting starts at around 7.20pm. We finish around 8.30pm. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Entry costs £3.50 (or free if you are a history society member). History Society members also have the option of joining the meeting via Zoom.
This is an event that might be of interest, co-organised by writer and friend-to-the-History-Society Sharon Wright. The Bronte Day Retreat is taking place on Saturday 10th May 2025 over in Thornton. More details on the poster or visit the website www.emmaliveyoga.com
Some of you may have seen the tribute to the late Elsie Scott in this week’s Keighley News. Elsie, who was born Elsie Greenwell, was renowned in the town for her skills as a dancer, performer, choreographer and dance teacher. We have just published the programme for the 1968 Amateurs production of ‘West Side Story’ on our Flickr site.
Elsie acted as choreographer on this show and was singled out in the opening paragraph of the Keighley News’ review, remarking on how she coped with the remarkably limited space on stage in the Ritz cinema. Reviewer Allan Robinson wrote: “To my mind, choreographer Elsie Scott was the ‘star’ of Keighley Amateurs’ opening presentation on Wednesday night for the marvellous job she did in such cramped conditions.”
Andy Wade, from the Men of Worth Project, gave an excellent talk to History Society members and guests at the Civic Centre on Wednesday evening. His talk was entitled “Keighley’s Roll of Honour Centenary” and covered the origin of the War Memorial in Town Hall Square, and the town’s original Roll of Honour book containing almost 1,000 names of the men from Keighley killed during the First World War, and brought the story up to date with how over 100 additional names have been uncovered and are recorded in a new additional book. Huge thanks to Andy.
Next month’s talk will be Colin Neville on Keighley-born artist George Demaine, on 14th May 2025.
Photographs taken by Tim Neal.
The latest members’ newsletter is out now. Available free to History Society members as a PDF, the newsletter comes out four times a year. This latest edition is 20 pages long and contains articles on a society visit to the Brontë Parsonage, the M&S store on Low Street, Keighley Amateurs stalwart Arthur Day, a new book that includes coverage of the “Keighley Martyrs”, the Holden Memorial in Holden Park, and plenty of dates for your diary for history-related events coming up in the area.
If you wish to join the History Society, it costs £15 a year and the easiest way to join is to come along to one of our monthly meetings in the Civic Centre (second Wednesday of every month).
Keighley Library is closing for a number of weeks from THURSDAY 13th MARCH. The main library will be operating a ‘click & collect’ service, but the LOCAL STUDIES LIBRARY have a different system. Read below for details.
Thursday 13th and Friday 14th March: The Local Studies Library will offer a by-appointment service only to visitors who need to access publications and original records for their research. Visitors will be required to book their visit in advance to use the appointment service. Visitors should then turn up at the entrance on Spencer Street at the allotted time and will be taken up to the Local Studies Library.
Week commencing Monday 17th March: The Local Studies Library will be closed completely for one week to allow for essential collections work. During this time, the team will respond to urgent enquiries via email only.
From Tuesday 25th March: the by-appointment service will resume. This will last for the duration of the refurbishment work which is expected to last for about three weeks.
Please check the library website and social media for updates
March’s History Society meeting will be guest speaker Thomas Zugic looking at the causes of the Civil War and the significance of places such as Adwalton Moor, Tadcaster, Bradford, Selby and Marston Moor. He’ll also be exploring some of the tactics employed and the weapons used, including bringing along some reproduction weapons and armour, and a diorama of a typical Civil War army. [Background image is a detail from The Battle of Adwalton Moor by Jean Moust.]
The meeting is on Wednesday 12th March 2025 and will be held in the main hall, upstairs in Keighley Civic Centre (PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A CHANGE OF VENUE). Doors open at 7.15pm. There is a lift to access the first floor. Entry is free to History Society members and is £3.50 to anyone else – all are welcome to attend. The meeting is scheduled to finish around 8.45pm. Members of the History Society also have the option of joining the meeting online via Zoom.
Membership of the History Society costs £15 for the calendar year. You can join at any of our face-to-face meetings (cash only please) or online via the society’s website.
Just published on the History Society’s Flickr site, the pages from a booklet marking the opening of Airedale General Hospital in December 1970. The hospital was officially opened by Prince Charles, who is quoted in the following week’s Keighley News as saying “I hope this building stands up for a very long time.”…
